Chapter 17: Creature Level Up
At 5 a.m., Xu Zhi sincerely asked the game console, “Can you have a timer function?”
“Like, I set a time for them to do something.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the game’s narrator responded.
[Please work hard to level up your familiars.]
“Oh.”
Xu Zhi understood.
The narrator was indirectly responding to her. Perhaps once the familiars’ levels increased, she wouldn’t need to constantly issue commands through the game and they could arrange their own schedules? That would be great. Once there are more familiars, her body will improve, and she can’t be tied to the game console all the time.
Managing too many familiars would be troublesome, so it would be better if they could manage their own time. She could still observe their status at any time via the game console without needing to manage every little thing. That would be great.
“Come on, level up already!”
Xu Zhi was looking forward to the moment when she could become a hands-off manager.
While two of her familiars were out searching for black fruit, Xu Zhi was observing through their perspective. She noticed that animal traces seemed to have decreased. Still no sign of any mutants, but thanks to her familiars’ level-ups, their field of vision had expanded, and she could now see human tracks.
The person’s movement trajectory didn’t seem like that of a madman. Instead, it looked like a normal person cautiously walking through the fog. When they didn’t see any familiars, they continued forward, but when they heard some noises, they immediately stopped and found cover. If they were madmen, they wouldn’t be this careful.
Xu Zhi didn’t pay much attention to him and let her familiars leave. After all, the person wasn’t heading in the direction of the old settlement. The priority now was to find the black fruit.
After some time, the two familiars succeeded, and Xu Zhi was able to find a black fruit.
She naturally fed it to Yi. Her current goal was to level up Yi to level 20, and with this fruit, Yi would definitely level up.
One hour later, Yi woke up after absorbing the fruit.
[Even though your familiar has become much stronger since the last time they ate this fruit, it is still not enough for it to fully absorb the fruit’s power. Perhaps next time, they will be able to absorb it more completely.]
[familiar: Snake Lv14 → Python Lv15
Spirit: 300
Physical Strength: 1400
Attributes: Blade
Traits: Poison Lv6, Sharp Lv4, Bloodthirsty Lv5, Cunning Lv4, Strength Lv5
Special Ability: Transformation Lv1]
[Evolution Points: 3000/4000]
[Congratulations, your familiar has reached level 15, and its biological level has increased.]
[Congratulations, your familiar has gained a special extraordinary ability: Transformation.]
[Transformation: Is what you see the truth? Is what you hear real? Are your perceptions loyal to you, or are they deceiving you? This is not an illusion; it is change.]
[Low-level transformation only allows the familiar to change their body size, with the maximum size not exceeding twice their original size. Leveling up the familiar will upgrade the transformation ability, unlocking more capabilities.]
[For some special reason, you can now extract a trait from your familiar.]
[Please choose: Extract]
“Sure enough, the special reason is the black fruit.”
The black fruit allowed her to extract abilities from her familiars.
Xu Zhi watched as Yi, after shedding its skin, grew immensely, its length now nearly ten meters. Its body had become extremely robust, with black scales faintly shimmering, golden pupils narrowing, its gaze cold and dangerous. Just looking at it gave off an overwhelming, suffocating pressure.
“All the other attributes have been enhanced, and there’s even a 5th-level strength boost.”
The transformation from level 14 to 15 was a qualitative leap.
But… most importantly, was the special ability—a proactive extraordinary ability.
“Transformation, a simple and clear name.”
It seemed like the ability only allowed for body size alteration, but with a little thought, it became clear that this ability could be very useful.
Moreover, it could evolve as the familiar leveled up.
This made Xu Zhi think of her own ability, “Eye of Secrets.” “Eye of Secrets” also evolved as her ability level increased, allowing her to see more things.
Does this mean that all proactive abilities work this way? They evolve as the host grows stronger, and when the host is weak, the ability can’t display its full power.
But what about abilities that start at a very low level? If the host’s level increases, will the ability improve too, or will it remain weak forever?
Many questions flooded Xu Zhi’s mind. The more she learned about abilities, the more questions arose. It felt like an endless abyss of exploration.
“Never mind, there’s no use thinking about this now.”
She shook her head, putting these questions aside for the moment. She planned to have Yi and Gouzi return and then go upstairs to talk to Shen Jinwen.
Since Yi’s size was now too large, it shrank its body before it could enter the residential building. When Yi returned, Xu Zhi asked, “What’s the smallest you can shrink?”
The narrator only said that it couldn’t exceed twice its body size, but didn’t specify how small it could shrink.
Under her gaze, Yi obediently used its ability to shrink, becoming no more than half a centimeter wide and about half a meter long, resembling a tiny snake.
With its body now more exquisite due to the level-up, when Yi was still, it didn’t look like a snake but a finely crafted ornament.
“That small?” Xu Zhi was a bit surprised. A size like that would make it very easy to hide.
She thought for a moment, then extended her right hand and tapped her slender wrist. “Come up.”
Yi obediently crawled onto Xu Zhi’s wrist and coiled around it, becoming so small that it almost looked like a delicate jade bracelet.
It would be very convenient for sneak attacks.
Xu Zhi nodded in satisfaction, while Gouzi beside her seemed displeased and dug at the ground with a whining sound.
Xu Zhi felt like Gouzi was probably asking why Yi could stick to her but it couldn’t.
“Do you really have no idea?”
Xu Zhi looked at it seriously, and Gouzi tilted its head in confusion.
Well, it seemed like it really had no clue.
“You’re not allowed to jump on me without my permission, and you’re not allowed to lick my face! Got it?”
Xu Zhi sternly reminded Gouzi. But Gouzi simply tilted its head again innocently, clearly not understanding.
Xu Zhi felt her temple throb, but she held back, “I know you understand, stop pretending!”
“Now, let’s go out. Be good, okay?”
Upon hearing this, Gouzi, who had been pretending not to understand, immediately jumped up, wagged its tail, and spun in a circle, looking at Xu Zhi with an eager expression, as if urging her to hurry.
“Heh.” Xu Zhi sneered. She knew that silly dog didn’t have much intelligence!
